Fifteen passengers unharmed as Bus Éireann Expressway catches fire in Donegal

Incident occurred on the outskirts of Letterkenny on Thursday evening

The Bus Éireann Expressway coach on fire at the Dry Arch Roundabout in Letterkenny on Thursday evening, 5th January. Photograph: Clare McCahill
The Bus Éireann Expressway coach on fire at the Dry Arch Roundabout in Letterkenny on Thursday evening, 5th January. Photograph: Clare McCahill

Fifteen passengers on a Bus Éireann Expressway coach service escaped unharmed after a fire broke out on board in Co Donegal.

The bus caught fire at the Dry Arch Roundabout on the outskirts of Letterkenny at about 8.30pm. There were no reports of injuries.

Witnesses said it appeared that the fire started at the rear of the bus. They also said the driver of the bus was standing along the road.

A woman who saw the incident said: “We were driving past it and all you could see was this huge fire in the distance and we suddenly noticed it was a bus on fire.

READ MORE

“It was pretty frightening. Hopefully nobody was injured. The fire brigade and gardaí were there pretty quickly but there was a huge traffic tailback.”

Gardaí and other emergency services attended the scene of the incident. The road was immediately cordoned off to allow the fire service to extinguish the blaze.

In a statement, Bus Éireann said: “This is an exceptionally rare occurrence in our fleet and will be thoroughly investigated. We’d like to thank the emergency services, our driver and passengers for their rapid and effective response. Passengers have been accommodated to continue their journey to Dublin on another vehicle.”

Colin Gleeson

Colin Gleeson

Colin Gleeson is an Irish Times reporter